does a transport need a fancy power cable? - Page 2

Perhaps not "fancy", but you at least need a "decent" one..

Only too true.

mags are entirely in the business of making profit from selling things that look a lot like 'information'. sometimes its real information and sometimes its fictional reading masquerading as real info.

if they take ads at all, then all bets are off. all cred is out the window. its just that simple.

I use 'man on the street' (people in forums, for example) and NEVER magazine or 'staff reviews'. use what works for you, but pro reviewers are rarely spot-on with my own views and experience.

basically, each person, over their lifetime has to develop and hone their own BS detector. some peoples' work better than others; but each person's usually does get more accurate in detecting BS over time

As a publishing executive I have to take issue with this statement. Granted, I have never worked at a hi-fi magazine so their editorial integrity may be in question, but any editorial department worth its weight in salt will try to be unbiased. I find it hard to believe that all stereo mags that take advertising are complete rubbish.

As with anything, do your research, get different opinions, audition if possible. Caveat emptor.

Based on my recent A/B, power cord on my transport makes a distinct difference to the sound quality. With Belden 19364, the sound is warm and indistinct. With Belden 83803 (self-terminated with sliver), within first few seconds, I could easily describe the differences - tighter bass, better separation, lower floor noise, better highs etc (those associated with improved clarity). Switch to gold-plated Iego, the warmth comes in. Further, I found the switch of the same power cords at the DAC makes more difference. I therefore conclude that power cords make a difference in my system at the transport, DAC, and of course amp. Results purely based on my ears and my system, YMMV, for your reference only.

BTW, those are not expensive power cords, just decent.

Since transports have motors and laser assemblies inside them, they probably generate RFI whihc may affect your other component. So I would use a reasonable gauge shielded cable, with the shield tied to ground on the component end and floated at wall socket end.

A "decent" power cord costs $2 or $3. Make sure it is UL rated. If you want to confirm that a $2 power cord "works" use a $10 DMM to measure output at the socket and at the end of the cord. You can measure the resistance and capacitance, too with the DMM. If you spring for a LCR meter (I have one) you can make more measurements. I haven't heard or measured a difference, so the least expensive UL rated power cord is fine for me.

What is really important, however, is the quality of the power supply you're feeding power into. The quality of the power transformer and how it changes AC into DC are hugely important. No matter how magickal the power cord is, you are not going to improve an el cheapo power supply. Likewise, an exceptionally well engineered power supply will do a great job supplying clean power. To suggest that a power cord can "improve" a good power supply is an insult to the engineer of the power supply.

You can improve things by using an isolation transormer to take DC off the line and eliminate ground loops. You can demonstrate its effect with standard test gear, too.

As for the trade rags... do you really think Stereophile can sell you a subscription for $1 an issue, considering printing and mailing costs, without taking a lot of advertising dollars?

And isn't is strange that these great "mysteries" of audio are always bound up with high profits? How come these magickal mystery mods always come at a price substantially higher than what they cost to manufacture? Do you thinknthat has anything to do with advertising dollars?

It might be more worth considering buying some kind of power re-conditioning or filtration before considering expensive power cables, as the only way these fancy power cables can benefit is if their capacitance filters out noise as far as I can see.

I don't like the word "fancy" when it comes to any cable because no one needs a fancy cable -- they need a cable or cord that performs well regardless of price.

Transports require this just like any other component, and I've especially found digital streaming transports to benefit from better cords greatly.

absolutely correct. to say that a wire will make ANY diff when all the business end is inside the PSU (the design and the components); its laughable and shows that anyone who believes 'power cords' do magic work really has NO understanding of what a PSU is all about.

when non-techies make statements about wiring like they know, they expose how little they really know.

thanks for adding some common sense to the discussion, erik.